The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/392,069 filed on Jun. 27, 2002, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The need for effective therapeutic treatment of patients has resulted in the development of a variety of techniques for delivering a pharmaceutical formulation to a patient. One traditional technique involves the oral delivery of a pharmaceutical formulation in the form of a pill, capsule, or the like. Inhaleable drug delivery, where an aerosolized pharmaceutical formulation is orally or nasally inhaled by a patient to deliver the formulation to the patient's respiratory tract, has also proven to be an effective manner of delivery. In one inhalation technique, a pharmaceutical formulation is delivered deep within a patient's lungs where it may be absorbed into the blood stream. Many types of inhalation devices exist including devices that aerosolize a dry powder pharmaceutical formulation.
The pharmaceutical formulation is often packaged in a receptacle so that it may be made available to a user. For example, a dose or a portion of a dose may be stored in a capsule that is to be swallowed or from which the pharmaceutical formulation may be aerosolized. Typically, the capsule is composed of bottom portion which may be filled with the pharmaceutical formulation. Thereafter, a top portion is installed onto the bottom portion to form the capsule and to contain the pharmaceutical formulation therein. Alternatively, the pharmaceutical formulation may be stored between layers of a multi-layered package, conventionally referred to as a blister or blister pack. With this type of receptacle, a cavity is formed in a lower layer, the pharmaceutical formulation is deposited within the cavity, and an upper layer is sealed onto the lower layer, such as by heating and/or compressing the layers, to secure the pharmaceutical formulation within the cavity. Other packages, such as bottles, vials, and the like, may also be used as receptacles for storing the pharmaceutical formulation.
It is often difficult to effectively fill packages with the pharmaceutical formulation. For example, in some conventional filling systems the amount of a pharmaceutical formulation that can be filled into a receptacle is limited. Powder pharmaceutical formulations that are to be aerosolized for delivery to a user by inhalation can be particularly difficult to package in large doses. It is generally desirable to maintain these powders in a substantially fluffy condition so that they may be effectively aerosolized. However, a fluffy powder may have such a low bulk density that less than desirable amounts of the pharmaceutical formulation may be filled into a receptacle.
Therefore, it is desirable to be able to fill large amounts of a powder into a receptacle. It is further desirable to be able to fill large amounts of a powder pharmaceutical formulation into a receptacle. It is still further desirable to fill the pharmaceutical formulation into a receptacle in a manner that allows the pharmaceutical formulation to be effectively aerosolized.